


The Mind of a Warlock

by wiznearbi



Series: The Minds of the Four [1]
Category: Inside Out (2015), Merlin (TV)
Genre: Merlin's emotions, Multi, and, idk - Freeform, idk this happened, its just an experiment i suppose, might make a series idk lmao, so i watched inside out again, with like the other four's emotions????
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-12 19:34:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11743722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wiznearbi/pseuds/wiznearbi
Summary: A handful of Merlin episodes featuring the five little voices inside his head.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> If you don't like it, don't read it. It's as simple as that, bro.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The emotions knew from the beginning that Merlin wasn't normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this isn't your preferred crossover, don't complain. As I said before; don't like? Don't read.

The first of all to emerge had been Joy, as it so often was. The newborn baby squirming in Hunith's strong arms felt alive, magic swirling like blood throughout his tiny body. Joy marvelled at the setting before him as he set his eyes on the console in front of him. The glowing yellow emotion smiled and pressed both his hands down firmly on the large button which instantly glowed a soft gold, warming him with a feeling that produced a quiet giggle from the blue-eyed boy which in turn received a look of pure love from his mother.

 _"Look at you, my gorgeous little boy. Your daddy would have been overjoyed to see you."_ She cooed, her eyes wide and watery. 

The feeling left instantly as the baby began to whimper, feeling the cold wind that blew in from a still-open window. Joy turned to his left only to meet the eyes of a pole-like purple emotion. The emotion sprang back and began babbling nervous nonsense as Hunith whispered to her child and held him close to her chest.

"I-I'm sorry. It's just, that weird feeling, I think it's called  _cold_ , It was so... _sudden_  and  _scary_. I'm s-sorry, I had to!"

"It doesn't matter," Joy shook his head, "Who are you?"

"I'm...Fear, I think."

Joy grinned, taking the new arrival's hand and shaking it politely. "That's wonderful. I'm pretty sure I'm Joy!"

Eventually, Merlin grew older and his head became inhabited by three other emotions. Sadness, Disgust and Anger. Joy remained the leader, only stepping back to let Fear take control after their first encounter with a magic-hating individual. Hunith had taken Merlin aside and made her son promise that they would never,  _ever_  let their magic go out of control.

 _"I don't want to lose you,"_ she wept, _"My beautiful boy."_

Merlin had agreed. He never wanted to see his mother that desperate ever again. The axe or noose didn't seem too inviting either.

So he hid.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely sure how I feel about posting a second fic when I haven't yet updated my other one. Perhaps I'll make an updating schedule of some sort later.


	2. Season 1 - Episode 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dragon's Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent a while on this and I'm sorry if it doesn't meet your expectations

Headquarters had grown quite a lot throughout the years of Merlin's life. The area was now decorated with blue and gold with a mysterious but naive air to it all. The wooden, serpent-shaped console had grown much longer and more complicated, now long enough so that all of his emotions could gather around it with ease. Seats were optional, and they preferred to operate without them. It was a little empty, in Joy's opinion, although he never voiced it. Perhaps it would fill up later. Quite a few personality islands had materialised over time as well, some of their favourites being Loyalty, Kindness and Friendship. They were fairly neutral towards Magic Island, for there were times when they were thankful for their gift but also ones in which they hated themselves for possessing it. All five of Merlin's emotions now sported a faded red neckerchief identical to Merlin's, and tunics of varying shades. The console had been upgraded just before they'd hit puberty, now large enough for all of them to stand around in case they were needed. Their life had been well and normal - as normal as possible for a magic-user - until they'd revealed their gift to their best and only friend, Will. Hunith had been horrified upon hearing what they'd done, immediately sending them off to an old friend of hers named 'Gaius' with all his belongings. Merlin couldn't understand why, especially when he happened to live in the kingdom which was home to the one man who'd begun the Great Purge in the first place; Camelot.  

"Mother hates us!" Sadness wept, "That's why she's sending us away."

"She does not!" Disgust replied, irritated, "She just wants us to be safe. Not like we need it, of course. We have magic," He looked through the window, catching a glimpse of heavily armed Camelot soldiers by the castle, "I bet we could knock those idiots out with a flick of our wrist!" He pressed a green button on the console and caused Merlin to smirk.

Fear shuddered, steering them well away from the guards. "We are not laying a finger on anyone in Camelot. Not unless we want to burn."

Disgust scowled, glaring at his lavender companion. Joy got between them before an argument broke out.

"Now, now, boys. Enough about the guards, take a look at the  _scenery_." He whistled in glee and his hands swept across a few buttons. Merlin craned his neck, staring at the looming towers in awe.

All five emotions sighed in satisfaction.

"There's a crowd gathered in the square, I wonder what that's about!" Joy cried out. Curious, Merlin peered over the heads of people, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening that drew the people in like pigeons.

"T-The King!" Fear gasped, "It's the  _King!"_

Sure enough, there he was. Uther Pendragon in the flesh, standing on a balcony above a man who was being led to the chopping block. Fear gulped and Uther eyed the peasant with hatred. The king ( _"Tyrant."_  Anger growled) addressed the crowd.

_"Let this serve as a lesson to all. This man, Thomas James Collins, is adjudged guilty of conspiring to use enchantments and magic. And, pursuant to the laws of Camelot, I, Uther Pendragon, have decreed that such practices are banned on penalty of death. I pride myself as a fair and just king, but for the crime of sorcery, there is but one sentence I can pass."_  He raised his arm and there were gasps as the executioner brought down the axe onto the neck of the man. With a _crunch,_  Thomas James Collins was no more. The emotions winced as Fear and Anger fought over the controls. Uther continued.

_"When I came to this land, this kingdom was mired in chaos, but with the people's help magic was driven from the realm. So I declare a festival to celebrate twenty years since the Great Dragon was captured and Camelot freed from the evil of sorcery. Let the celebrations begin."_  The crown began to scatter, but one old woman hobbled her way into view with heart-wrenching wails.

_"There is only one evil in this land, and it is not magic! It is you! With your hatred and your ignorance! You took my son! And I promise you, before these celebrations are over, you will share my tears. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son."_  Her voice began to break as Uther regarded her before shouting to his guards.

_"Seize her!"_

They weren't even surprised when the woman began to chant, disappearing in a whirlwind of smoke.

"Now  _that's_  a dramatic exit," Disgust commented, "And what a welcome that was! Just when we were beginning to appreciate this place, too!"

Sadness quietly came over to the front.

"That poor woman."

* * *

It was a while before they managed to wake Fear up.

After their accidental magic reveal to Gaius, he'd been so overwhelmed he'd passed out. He was relieved upon hearing that Gaius had promised not to hand him over to Uther.

"Imagine hiding our magic from the person we  _live_  with!" he chuckled hysterically.

Merlin spent the rest of his afternoon making up his bedroom. Having a bed to sleep in, at last, was refreshing. Disgust, in particular, had been ecstatic about it. "No more stiff backs!" he'd sighed in content, "And no more _dirt!_ Goodness knows what was on that floor..."

After they'd gotten comfortable and sent all of the day's memories down to Long-Term, Fear stayed behind dream duty that night, but for some reason, the connection was cut off and replaced by an odd, raspy voice.

_"Merlin... Merlin..."_

Fear shrieked, waking Merlin up from his sleep. The raven rubbed his tired eyes, and his emotions groaned and yawned as they left their bedrooms (All but Joy, who bounded over to the console in excitement), Anger grumbling a few insults at his cautious co-worker.

"Our first morning in Camelot, how exciting!" Joy cried, full of more energy than usual. Sadness only laid in a corner, gloomily droning on about how he missed Mother.

So many memories to make! Joy shook with anticipation, Anything could happen today!

Merlin went through his door into Gaius' chambers.

_"I got you water. You didn't wash last night."_  There was a hint of amusement in the physician's eyes.

Disgust wrinkled his nose in repulse. They must've smelt horrible.

_"Sorry."_  Merlin apologised, sheepish.

_"Help yourself to breakfast."_

They sat down on a wooden stool and stared at the breakfast in front of them. The porridge was watery, but they were used to it. As they picked at their meal, Gaius knocked over the pail of water that had been sitting at the very edge of the wooden table. Fear shrieked and slammed down a particularly large gold button on the exact centre of the console. The screen shimmered for a split second and the pail stopped mid fall. The five emotions winced as they heard Gaius gasp and the warlock turned to look at his new carer. The bucket remained as it was for merely a few seconds before completing its descent with a loud  _splat!_  A few drops of water reached Merlin's feet.

_"How did you do that? Did you incant a spell in your mind?"_  The physician asked, perplexed.

Anger's face was distorted, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. "Will that old crone just _let it go_?"

_"I don't know any spells."_  Merlin replied.

_"So what did you do? There must be something."_

Anger ground his teeth, "He'd better stop."

_"It just happens."_

Joy clasped his hands and sent a smile in Anger's direction. "See? Nice and quick explanation!"

Disgust got Merlin to grab a mop from the corner of the room and clean up the mess in the best way he could.

_"Well, we better keep you out of trouble,"_ "Does he think we're in some sort of hurry to get killed?"  _"You can help me until I find some paid work for you. Here."_

He placed a few things on the table. It was obviously medicine of some sort.

_"Hollyhock and Feverfew for Lady Percival, and this is for Sir Olwin. He's as blind as a weevil, so warn him not to take it all at once."_

Fear began wringing his hands.

" _Okay."_

_"And here,"_  Gaius handed him a plate holding a sandwich on it and smiled. They took it and returned the gesture,  _"Off you go. And Merlin, I need hardly tell you that the practice of any form of enchantments will get you killed."_

* * *

They crossed the drawbridge and took a look at their surroundings, noticing some young men whom they presumed to be knights with a servant.

"These must be the training grounds." Sadness commented.

_"Where's the target?"_  one of them asked. He was a blond man who looked to be around Merlin's age. His companions snickered behind him.

_"There, Sir?"_  the serving boy asked.

_"It's into the sun?"_

_"But, it's not that bright."_

_"A bit like you, then?"_  They laughed, but it wasn't joyful. It was more of a cruel, jeering cackle.

"Hold up!" Anger yelled, "What's up with those guys?"

"They're bullies." Disgust observed, his tone disapproving.

_"I'll put the target on the other end, shall I, Sir?"_ The servant suggested, carrying the target towards the wall. Not quick enough for the nobles, it seemed.

_"Teach him a lesson. Go on, boy."_  One of them said.

_"This'll teach him."_

_"Yeah."_

_"Haha. Teach him a lesson."_

The blond boy sneered as he threw his dagger at the target. The servant looked up in surprise.

_"Hey! Hang on!"_

_"Don't stop!"_

With obvious discomfort, the curly-haired servant took a few steps back.

_"Here?"_

_"I told you to keep moving!"_  Another dagger pierced the wood,  _"Come on! Run!"_

More daggers came his way as he struggled to carry the large target.

_"Do you want some moving target practice?"_

The servant finally dropped the target, and it managed to roll its way to Merlin. He placed his foot on it, preventing the boy from picking it back up.

Fear spluttered and glared an Anger. "What are you  _doing?_ These are noblemen!"

"I'm putting a stop to this, it's not fair!" The red brick-like emotion yelled back, embers forming on his head.

"Keep calm..." Joy said, putting a hand near Anger's.

_"Hey, come on, that's enough."_

_"What?"_

_"You've had your fun, my friend."_

_"Do I know you?"_

"After this, you'll wish you didn't!" Anger spat.

_"Er, I'm Merlin."_  He held out his hand.

_"So I don't know you."_

_"No."_

_"Yet you called me 'friend'."_

Disgust fixed his neckerchief. "Let me deal with this."

_"That was my mistake."_

_"Yes, I think so."_

_"Yeah. I'd never have a friend who could be such an ass."_

Fear laughed nervously, pulling a lever that caused Merlin to turn and begin walking away. "Okay, we've intervened, let's walk away now..."

_"Or I one who could be so stupid."_

Anger gasped, pushing Fear out of the way. Merlin stopped.

_"Tell me, Merlin, do you know how to walk on your knees?"_

Disgust's jaw dropped. "Is he _suggesting-_ " Joy interrupted him with a snort. "Don't be ridiculous!"

_"No."_

_"Would you like me to help you?"_

Anger clicked his tongue dangerously. Fear gulped. "Anger-"

_"I wouldn't if I were you."_

"What was that?! Anger, stop this!" But Anger was deaf to Fear's demands.

_"Why? What are you going to do to me?"_  The blonde chuckled in disbelief.

"You have no idea." Anger growled.

_"You have no idea."_  Merlin repeated.

_"Be my guest! Come on! Come on! Come oooooon."_

Anger screamed as flames erupted from his head.

"THAT'S IT!"

He slammed his fists against the console and Merlin took a swing at the bully. He didn't succeed, ending up with his arm twisted behind his back.

_"I'll have you thrown in jail for that."_  The noble told him, irritated but amused.

_"What, who do you think you are? The King?"_  

_"No. I'm his son, Arthur."_   Fear almost fainted.

"Well, _thanks_  a lot, Ange-" he was cut off by the entire Headquarters going dark, save a familiar blinding bright light.

"A-A core memory?" Joy murmured in disbelief. That it was. It was a swirling mix of red and green, with a tiny speck of yellow and purple. The emotions gaped at it as it passed short-term and joined the other core memories to form an island. At this, they ran to the window at the back, their eyes wide and confused.

" _Arthur_  Island? How the hell is  _Arthur_  important to us in any way? He's nothing but a prat!" Disgust spluttered, "This  _cannot_  be happening."

"Maybe it's because we stood up to him?" Sadness asked timidly.

Anger shook his head. "We've stood up to people before."

"Yeah, but he's a  _prince._ "

"Maybe that's it..."

"It can't be!" They all diverted their attention to Joy, who looked utterly dumbfounded, "There must be something else to it. I mean, it's a  _core memory_ -"

"Guys," Fear's voice shook and they all turned back to the front where the purple emotion was shaking in horror, "We're going to the dungeons."

This time, he really did faint.

* * *

_"Oh, no."_

"I thought Gaius liked us." Sadness said gloomily, watching the physician laugh as he walked past them. Joy snorted, his hands flying across the console.

"Come on, it's hilarious!"

_"Thanks!"_  Merlin called out, amused.

The children left to gather more fruit and vegetables as Joy grinned and wiped tears from his eyes.

"Oh, that was fun...Who's this?" He lowered his hand so that he could pull a switch, curious as to who had approached them. She was a pretty peasant girl, with light brown skin, curly dark hair and a pleasant expression. They instantly took a liking to her.

_"I'm Guinevere, but most people call me Gwen. I'm the Lady Morgana's maid."_

_"Right,"_  he reached his hand further out of the stocks,  _"I'm Merlin."_  She smiled and shook it. 

_"Although, most people just call me Idiot."_  he shrugged. 

_"No, no, no. I saw what you did. It was so brave."_

"She's nice." Disgust commented.

"But it's not true." Sadness sighed.

_"It was stupid."_

_"Well, I'm glad you walked away. You weren't going to beat him."_

"Excuse me?!" 

_"Oh, I- I can beat him."_

  _"You think? Because you don't look like one of these big, muscle-y kind of fellows."_

"She h-hates us!" Tears began to form in Sadness' eyes.

_"Thanks."_

_"No! No, I'm sure you're stronger than you look. It's just, erm... Arthur's one of these real rough, tough, save the world kind of men, and... well..."_

_"What?"_

_"You don't look like that."_

"I'm sorry?" Disgust scoffed, offended. Joy rushed over to take control. Merlin motioned for Gwen to come closer and she leant in.

_"I'm in disguise."_ he whispered. Gwen, not realising he literally meant it, took it as a joke and laughed.

_"Well, it's great you stood up to him."_

The five emotions sighed in relief. 

"At least she's being nice again." Anger grumbled. Disgust nodded in agreement.

_"What? You think so?"_

_"Arthur's a bully, and everyone thought you were a real hero."_

Joy smirked. "Is that so?"

_"Oh, yeah?"_

_"Mm-hmm."_  She nodded and in confirmation. Joy let out an excited squeal as Merlin's new 'fans' began to come back with more rotten fruit. Disgust made a face, moving as far as possible from the viewscreen and Joy. If he couldn't protect Merlin, he might as well protect himself. 

_"Oh, excuse me, Guinevere. My fans are waiting."_

An entertained smile formed on her face and she left, shielding herself as Merlin began to be pelted once more. A new figure joined Will on Friendship Island.

* * *

Their second fight with Arthur hadn't been very pleasant at all. The bruises and cuts he'd left on them hurt, but at least Gaius had patched them up. Fear was still a little spooked by Lady Helen from earlier.

"I  _swear_  I saw something in that mirror!"

"You're being paranoid!" snapped Anger, "Shut up!"

"Arthur's going to order our execution." This was Sadness. The mention of execution only scared Fear more, and he clung onto Anger, who set fire to his tunic. 

"Come on, guys," Joy begged, "Let's just send these memories down to Long-Term and go to sleep! I'm sure Dream Productions are dying to show us what they've got planned!"

"Probably not gonna happen with that stupid voice calling out to us all the damn time!" Anger banged his fists onto the controls. As if on cue, they heard it again. 

_"Merlin. Merlin."_

"SHUT UP!"

"Shh...maybe it wants to tell us something? Remember those weird arrows that appeared in front of the screen last time that happened, telling us to go down? Now that we're not in a cell, we can follow it!"

"You have got to kidding me! We are not following it, Joy! Think about all the danger we'll get ourselves in!"

Merlin got out of bed and snuck out of the Physician's chambers. Four of his emotions turned to glare at Joy.

"What? Oh...Sorry, my hand slipped." he shrugged, cheekily. The arrow appeared in front of them again, motioning for them to leave the castle.

Merlin crossed the square, Fear sighed and made making sure he scanned the area for anyone else. 

_"Merlin."_

He began to descend down the Wrought Iron Stairway and would have continued if Fear hadn't spotted a couple of guards playing dice. Joy used magic to roll their dice away from them and the others had been tentative about it at first, but after seeing the utter stupidity of the guards, even Fear gave in. Merlin lit a torch he found, going down the stairway of the tunnel.

_"Merlin. Merlin."_

He entered a cavern. It was very spacious, but there didn't seem to be anyone there.

_"Merlin!"_  There was a great, echoing laugh. Fear quivered. 

"What was that? Who was that?"

_"Where are you?"_

They took a step back in surprise as they heard a flapping of wings, and within seconds there was a dragon seated before them. It didn't take them long to notice it was chained to the rock, and Sadness let out a sympathetic sob.

_"I'm here. How small you are for such a great destiny."_

"What?" They all cried out in unison.

_"Why? What do you mean? What destiny?"_

_"Your gift, Merlin, was given to you for a reason."_

Joy's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

_"So there is a reason."_

_"Arthur is the Once and Future King who will unite the land of Albion."_

They stood there for what seemed like an eternity, not knowing what to do. It was Disgust who broke the silence. "As if we're going to believe that for a second!" he sneered. 

_"Right."_

_"But he faces many threats from friend and foe alike."_

"We're foe."

_"I don't see what this has to do with me."_

_"Everything. Without you, Arthur will never succeed. Without you, there will be no Albion."_

"He can't be serious!"

_"No. No, you've got this wrong."_

_"There is no right or wrong, only what is and what isn't."_

"He's so weird, I hate him already."

_"But I'm serious! If anyone wants to go and kill him, they can go ahead. In fact, I'll give them a hand."_

_"None of us can choose our destiny, Merlin, and none of us can escape it."_  The Dragon laughed.

"No, no, no..." Joy wasn't with the others, instead having gone to stare at their most newly received Personality Island; Arthur Island. He didn't see anything too happy about what the dragon was saying, but at least they knew what their gift was for.

_"No. No way. No. No. There must be another Arthur because this one's an idiot."_

_"Perhaps it's your destiny to change that."_   With that, the great beast left them. Fear threw himself onto the controls. Anger, Disgust and Sadness also began furiously pressing buttons.

_"Wait! Wait! Wait, stop! No, I, I need to know more!"_

Joy looked back from the window at his co-workers, who were bickering and pushing into each other (three of them, anyway. Sadness was just getting bumped into) despite the fact that the console was large enough for them all to be in control. He sighed and brushed his blue fringe from his eyes. This was too much, he just wanted to go back to Ealdor.

* * *

"I've never seen so many nobles in one place!" Joy gushed, "It's so  _fancy_!" 

"We'd better not drink too much. In fact, let's not drink at all. We can't control ourselves when we're drunk, something bad or scary might happen."

"We might not even be  _allowed_  to drink, it's not like we're important."

"Since when was drinking a thing for _important people_?"

"Since when were we not an important person anyway?"

They stopped talking when they heard their name through the chatter in the hall. They spotted Arthur with his mates, obviously bragging about his 'victory' earlier. Anger growled. 

"Guys, I'm aware you all hate Arthur. I do too -  a little - but look at Morgana!" Joy cried. 

"She looks gorgeous..." Sadness sighed, and Disgust nodded in agreement. 

_"Merlin. Remember, you're here to work."_

"Trust Gaius to spoil things with the truth."

_"Oh, yeah."_  They continued to stare at Morgana regardless, and Disgust took over when they saw Arthur approach her. Out of the corner of their eye, they saw Gwen sidle up next to them. 

_"She looks great, doesn't she?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"Some people are just born to be queen."_

_"No!"_

"Wait, that wasn't me. Who was that?" Joy questioned, looking suspiciously at his co-workers, who all denied making Merlin say anything. Sadness turned to glance behind him, wondering if Arthur Island had something to do with it.

_"I hope so. One day. Not that I'd want to be her. Who'd want to marry Arthur?"_

"Oh, really? I thought he was her type." Joy summoned a memory from earlier, showing something Gwen had told them during their first meeting.

_"Oh, come on, Gwen. I thought you liked those real rough, tough, save the world kind of men."_

_"No, I like much more ordinary men like you."_

Joy chuckled almost madly.

_"Gwen, believe me, I'm not ordinary."_

_"No, I didn't mean you, obviously. Not you. But just, you know, I like much more ordinary men like you."_

Sadness sighed deeply, "We're gonna die alone."

_"Thanks."_  They both looked away from each other awkwardly.

Later, they heard the horns signalling Uther's entrance. Everyone quickly went back to their seats and the halls went quiet.

_"We have enjoyed twenty years of peace and prosperity. It has brought the kingdom and myself many pleasures, but few can compare with the honour of introducing Lady Helen of Mora."_

There was applause as the music began and the court took their seats to listen. Lady Helen's angelic voice rose over the music itself and Joy sighed as he listened, completely entranced. It was truly something beautiful. The other emotions listened too, somewhat calm for once. One of them, however, wasn't paying attention to her voice. Instead, he let his eye observe the hall around her. His eyes fixed onto one of the court members, who had begun to nod off. He thought nothing of it until he noticed all those around him seemed to be doing the same. 

"Guys..." Fear began, reaching for the controls. Anger shushed him. He felt a wave of panic as cobwebs began to form over the sleeping nobles and servants. His body grew more jittery and he could tell by the way Disgust slowly lifted his head off his hand - eyes widening - that the others were beginning to notice it too. Fear took this as an invitation and he began working furiously, tapping buttons and pulling levers at top speed. Merlin clapped his hands over his ears. Lady Helen's voice grew louder and more ominous. Fear yelped as they noticed her staring at Arthur, the look in her eyes was unmistakable. Unbeknownst to all of the five emotions in Merlin's head but Sadness, both Magic and Arthur Island sprung to life behind them, sparks flying from each of them. They seemed to work together with Fear. With one firm press of the magic button, the chandelier directly above Helen dropped, crushing her. Just in time too, as she had begun to raise a dagger she'd pulled out from her dress. The music instantly stopped and the court members began to raise their heads and blink in confusion, muttering as they removed the cobwebs from their faces. Arthur and his father stood up, realising that they'd been enchanted and staring at the body in shock. 

"Mary Collins!" Fear wailed, "We should have known!"

The elderly woman used the last of her strength to raise the top half of her body and haul the dagger in the Prince's direction. Fear screamed and pressed the magic button once more - Arthur Island beginning to glow - and time slowed for Merlin. He managed to reach Arthur and pull him out of harm's way before its speed went back to normal. The dagger pierced Arthur's seat, slicing through it. Mary collapsed and died. Uther and Arthur stared at Merlin in disbelief and gratitude. 

_"You saved my boy's life. A debt must be repaid."_

Fear finally stopped operating and stepped back in astonishment. His co-workers too found the fact that he'd just saved a Prince's life hard to believe. 

_"Oh, well..."_

_"Don't be so modest. You shall be rewarded."_

"Please stop talking to us..."  Fear whimpered, his voice no louder than a whisper.

_"No, honestly, you don't have to, Your Highness."_

_"No, absolutely. This merits something quite special."_

"...Maybe he'll give us money? A good job?" Joy suggested in an attempt to lighten the mood.

_"Well..."_

_"You shall be rewarded a position in the royal household."_

"What did I say, eh?"

_"You shall be Prince Arthur's manservant."_

"Oh." A little deflated, Joy let Disgust take over. He patted Fear on the shoulder, giving him a small smile. 

"Great job back there."

"T-Thanks?" Fear replied, not able to tell whether he was joking or not. 

The court began to applaud, but Merlin didn't think this was something to be happy about. 

_"Father!"_  As it seemed, Arthur didn't either. At least the feeling was mutual. They glimpsed Gwen joining in with the clapping and giving them a sympathetic and pitiful look. For a split second, they made eye contact with Arthur but looked away almost immediately. 

* * *

_"Seems you're a hero,"_ Gaius commented later on that night.

_"Hard to believe, isn't it?"_

_"No. I knew it from the moment I met you. When you saved my life, remember?"_

"That wasn't us though," Sadness said.

_"But...that was magic."_

_"And now, it seems, we finally found a use for it."_

"We already heard this from the crazy dragon." Disgust groaned, rolling his eyes. 

"Let's act oblivious though, we don't want him to know!" Fear said.

" _What do you mean?"_

_"I saw how you saved Arthur's life."_

_"Oh, no."_

_"Perhaps that's its purpose."_

Sadness thought glumly of Arthur Island and summoned a memory from their conversation with the dragon. 

_"My destiny."_

_"Indeed."_ he took out a parcel, _"This book was given to me when I was your age, but I have a feeling it will be of more use to you than it was to me."_  

Curious, Merlin unwrapped it. It was a book of magic. Joy grinned and reached for a lever, but Sadness and Disgust got there first.

_"But this is a book of magic."_

_"Which is why you must keep it hidden."_

Joy ended up hogging the entire console, performing ecstatic little dances of his own on top of it, whistling in glee. 

_"I will study every word!"_

"In fact," Joy cried, "We'll do it right now!" However, they were interrupted by a knock on the door. 

_"Merlin, Prince Arthur wants you right away."_  Came the slightly muffled voice of a guard.

_"Your destiny's calling. You'd better find out what he wants."_  Gaius smiled.

Disgust threw his head back and groaned.


End file.
